19.3.15

A quick update

I have been rather busy of late, and yet have not been particularly productive. At least, from my flawed and often skewed perspective.

There are a couple drafts in line for me to post before too long. Interestingly, these are less reporting on specific events or activities in my life. Rather, they are more existential musings on my status as a student abroad (and just about me in general). Naturally, thinking about me allows me to engage in my favorite activity, avoid doing school work, and definitely justify more rigorous editing of my writing.

I am about to leave for a weekend away. A graduate student at UCT has taken me on as an assistant for his field research in the Knersvlakte. As I tell people where I am going, everyone turns their head to the side like a dog being talked to. I do not know if that is a result of my poor pronunciation of the Afrikaans place-name or if they have never heard of the bloody place. It is a desert several miles north of Cape Town (still not sure whether I will be in the Western Cape Province or Northern Cape Province, but who cares).

Not only will it be an awesome learning experience and chance to make real contacts with people in the field. It will also be a chance to see more of South Africa (in particular, places even South Africans do not get to see) and just to get out of the city. I have been living here amidst the bustle. That bustle is relatively light, granted, but I am someone who volunteered to live in Joshua Tree.

So, I will be incommunicado until I return Monday. I am missing a little bit of class for this, but I think it is worth it. Also, Seth (the grad student) moved it from Tues-Fri to Fri-Mon, so I am missing much less class than I originally would have. So yay.

Busy packing and finishing up some school work before my weekend away (and lest I convince myself it is a vacation, I will be hiking many miles in the desert heat each day and working my ass off collecting samples and measurements).

I have taken the last two weekends, in part, to explore a little more of the city proper. I have a couple pictures to share, since I have been so light lately.

First up, two of my favourite people on the African continent with whom I have the fortune to live as well as my favourite thread-based primate representation at this AMAZING Ethiopian restaurant in the city. The four of us had an outing to get us some Ethiopian and take in some of the museums (the Slave Lodge Museum and the National Gallery).

Paarth, Monkey, and Mandolyn at Addis on the Cape.

Along Green Market Square

One of the few spirit doctor notices that does not also mention abortion issues.